One of the most commonly-asked “file spec” questions we receive relates to the poly frost business cards. Because they are frosted, translucent business cards are unique compared to the more typical card or paper based products like glossy business cards or silk business cards. As such, they have a couple unique file qualities that you should take into consideration when creating your artwork.

First and foremost, the poly frost plastic business cards are full color with one exception – white. There is no 100% white (C=0%, M=0%, Y=0%, K=0%) ink printed on translucent business cards. Any part of your artwork that is 100% white will not receive any ink and therefore will be completely translucent.

Said another way, if you want any part of your physical custom business cards to be completely translucent, make sure you have 100% white in those areas within your design file. If you do want something akin to a white background, then utilize a slightly off-white CMYK color (for example, C=2%, M=2%, Y=2%, K=0%). A color like this will look white to the naked eye.

Generally, poly frost business cards with completely translucent backgrounds look the best. Light colored backgrounds work well too, just keep in mind that the darker the background color, the “dimmer” the translucent effect, which would seem to defeat the purpose.

Additionally, when creating your artwork, you would be well-served to remember that these cards are frosted, similar to the distorted translucency of a shower door. Therefore, extremely small fonts or intricate designs are not recommended. Your best bet would be to make sure that all fonts and lines are at least 10pt. This will help ensure that your custom business cards will not appear overly blurry due to the frosted translucency of the poly frost card stock.

So, there you have it. Following these tips will help ensure that your files are optimized, which in turn will enable your translucent plastic business cards to turn out perfectly every time!